Kemar Roofe grabbed Michael Stewart’s attention with Rangers goal, showcased intelligence
Michael Stewart was highly impressed by Kemar Roofe after the Rangers star bagged an excellent goal in the win over Annan Athletic.
The Jamaican international scored the second in a 3-0 win with a lovely finish into the bottom corner, as a Light Blues’ XI consisting of various players needing some game time ran out comfortable winners in the Scottish Cup, with goals from Filip Helander and Fashion Sakala.
Former Hearts and Hibs midfielder Stewart was particularly enamoured with Roofe’s mental ability for his strike as the attacker looks to play his way back into form following injury at the end of 2021.
Speaking on BBC Sportscene on Saturday (February 12) Stewart said: “This was a really good goal. You look at the number of players that have got forward, but Kemar Roofe with the intelligence to know where the space was and peel to the edge of the box.
“His first touch sets him up perfectly to be able to curl it into the far corner, [Greg] Fleming has got no chance in the Annan goal. I think that highlighted perfectly the intelligence of Kemar Roofe.
“He drifts into the space, good first touch, and a very, very good finish.”
Confidence booster
The cup win in the swirling rain was the perfect outing for a number of members of Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad who have been on the fringes of the starting line-up lately.
Aaron Ramsey made a first start, bagged an assist, and had a nice goal ruled out for offside, while Helander scored on his first appearances since September.
Roofe’s display might be the most encouraging of all, as he has looked nowhere near his best so far since his return from injury.
When Alfredo Morelos was away on international duty with Columbia Gers really struggled without a central striking threat of his level.
If the 29-year-old can get back into the form that saw him scored 10 times in all competitions before his December lay-off it would ease the manager’s reliance on the Colombian significantly.
On a night where the visitors always should have been comfortable victors, they duly obliged and saw some encouraging signs from a number of men.
In other Rangers news, another BBC pundit was blown away by the performance of one Ger in the win at Annan.